People's Democracy

(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist)

Vol. XXXVI

No. 43

October 28, 2012

SPOTLIGHT DISCUSSION ON Latin
AMERICA

DUJ Calls for New Information Order

MEDIA experts on third world and
developing countries,
foreign policy media personnel, writers and members of
the Delhi Union of
Journalists and the Delhi Media Centre for Research
& Publications Trust
made a fervent plea, on October 15, for a new
information order if not an
alternative information order to combat trivialism and
the virtual blackout of
what was once known as a third world project and even
called by many as the
non-aligned movement.

The
occasion was of a stimulating spotlight discussion on
the victory of Hugo
Chavez in the recent elections in Venezuela and its
implications for Latin
America countries and others was held in New Delhi. Venezuela’s
ambassador to India,
Ms Milena Santana-Ramirez, and Cuban ambassador,
Abelardo Rafael Cueto Sosa,
led the discussion that was organised by the Delhi Media
Centre for Research
& Publications. Music by the group Parcham and the
poetry of Pablo Neruda
also marked the event. The ambassadors of the two
countries energetically
participated in the programme.

Hugo
Chavez is a fighter, said Ambassador Santana-Ramirez,
adding that he fought
against all odds to return to power. His victory, she
said, reflects the
popularity of the Venezuelan model of twenty-first
century socialism which puts
the people at the centre, giving them the benefits of
affordable food, housing,
healthcare and education. Investment in the social
sector, she said, has shown
the people that for the first time they have a
government which is responsive
to their needs.

Ambassador
Santana-Ramirez observed that the past ten years have
witnessed the election of
several progressive governments in Latin
America.
They follow different models of socialism but there is
unity in this diversity,
with the creation of various regional blocs and
alliances for mutual support
and cooperation. Latin America,
she said, is
rich in resources and knowhow and that the pooling of
these resources is
achieving results.

Ambassador
Sosa of Cuba
recalled the
close bonds between Cuba
and
Venezuela.
He said this is a time of unity for Latin America,
“a time to preserve our roots and to create our own
Socialism.” The Cuban
government, he said, has given its full support to
Chavez in Venezuela
in his
moments of crisis.

Sosa
also recalled the close ties between India
and Cuba,
harking back to
the time when Jawaharlal Nehru went to meet Fidel Castro
in a small hotel in
Harlem in New
York
just before a United Nations’ General Assembly in
September 1960. Nehru’s
support for the Cuban leader helped to forge the unity
of the Non-Aligned
Movement, he observed. He also recalled the strong ties
with the Indira Gandhi
government and the support provided by the Indian people
who sent a shipload of
wheat to Cuba
when the country faced an economic blockade and food
shortages.

He
said Cuba
is not perfect but it has a functional democracy, with
people choosing their
representatives at grassroots through elections. Cuba
has its own model of socialism
and is presently moving from a hundred percent state
economy to a mixed
economy, while ensuring that everyone has free education
and health care, he
said.

Professor
Vibha Maurya of the Department of Germanic and Romance
Studies in University of Delhi spoke on
the impact of Chavez’s
policies on Venezuelan politics and the sharp
polarisation between his
supporters, the Chavistas, and the anti-Chavistas. She
said Chavez was among
the first to oppose the celebration of Columbus Day
which is the anniversary of
Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. For
Chavez, the day
marks the beginning of colonisation. When he said the
the holiday should be
abolished, people in Caracas
knocked down the
statues of Columbus.
Those opposed to Chavez decried this. She said Chavez’s
promotion of people’s
art and folk art is also a political act and is
therefore opposed by exclusive
groups like the ‘People of Culture.’

Dr
John Cherian, Delhi Bureau chief of Frontline,
stated that “important
achievements had been the government’s ability to
provide free healthcare and
education and a profit-free distribution system. On the
foreign policy front he
said “Venezuela
has played a
key role in reshaping the political map of Latin America.
American hegemonic influence is now only limited to a
few pockets. Regional
organisations like the CELAC (Community of Latin
American and CaribbeanStates)
are all set to transplant American dominated groupings
like the Organisation of
American States (OAS). Chavez was also the moving force
behind ALBA (the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas),
a
grouping that consists of staunchly anti-imperialist
states like Cuba,
Bolivia,
Ecuador
and Nicaragua.
His
victory will also strengthen organisations like the NAM
that have been striving for a
multi-polar world.”

S K
Pande, general secretary of the Delhi Union of
Journalists (DUJ), said the
reportage of developing countries and their struggles
was less important than
the coverage of American elections and coverage of
issues affecting the toiling
masses. In fact, the NAM
had
become a token for India’s
foreign policy experts and some embedded journalists. In
fact we don’t even
have correspondents covering many third world countries,
while it is
prestigious to have correspondents in select western
countries and superpowers.

Rekha
Avasthi, secretary of the Janwadi Lekhak Sangh, recited
a touching poem of
Pablo Neruda, when Latin America
tunes and
freedom struggle tunes from various countries were also
played.

On
the occasion, Sujata Madhok, president of the Delhi
Union of Journalists,
announced the policy decision that the DUJ and its media
centre would now have
a spotlight wing, a foreign affairs wing and a trade
union wing, besides
others. The programmes are to be announced soon.

JOURNALISTS
CONDEMN

EMPLOYEE’S
MURDER

Through
a statement issued from New Delhi
on October 14,
the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has expressed its
sense of shock and
anguish at the murder of a newspaper worker, Rajendra
Dupare, in Nagpur.
Dupare was
allegedly shot by Prakash Pohare, the owner editor of Deshonnati,
a
Marathi daily, while he and other employees were
peacefully protesting against
the termination of their services.

While
condemning the growing tendency to use violence in order
to resolve industrial
disputes, including the use of armed private security
guards, bouncers and
other goons, the DUJ has also flayed the hire and fire
policy, and other
unethical practices, which employers are taking recourse
to. The DUJ statement,
issued by its president Ms Sujata Madhok and general
secretary S K Pandey,
stated the organisation’s belief that the inefficiency
and bias of the official
labour machinery, which rarely enforces the labour laws,
is often responsible
for the outbreak of violence. While calling for
industrial justice and peace, the
DUJ has also demanded that those responsible for the Nagpur
murder must be arrested and tried
forthwith.

The
DUJ has also urged upon the central and state level
labour ministries to
investigate the concrete cases of starvation deaths in
the newspaper industry
following the unfair labour practices and
non-implementation of the wage board
recommendations and relevant acts connected with the
newspaper industry.

The DUJ statement also pointed out
that wage board employees
have been arbitrarily sacked after announcement of the
wage board report; some
more were victimised after the release of the report and
some employees have
already died. The DUJ has urged for maximum unity
of all journalists and
press bodies to fight such anti-labour policies.